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Anniversary update …

Just a quick update …

Yes, I was right — didn’t hear a thing from hubby on our anniversary.

30(!) years have now gone by … but he has almost no memory of the fact that we’re still married … and no sense that it might be something to celebrate or at least acknowledge.

So sad. :::sigh:::

It’s a very lonely situation.   Feels almost like I’m married to a ghost.

A bittersweet day …

Today is our 30th Anniversary.  :::sigh:::  And I’m certain I won’t even get a phone call or any sort of acknowledgement from my husband. 

Start reading here if you don’t know what I’m talking about.

On another note, how can we possibly have been married for 30 years?  After all, I’m only 35, right?! 

My Newest Book: The Simple Mom’s Idea Book

I was just looking through old posts on this blog and I might be mistaken but I don’t think I’d posted anything about my newest book.  (Maybe there’s an announcement hidden in some “Update” post, but I sure couldn’t find it.)  Just in case I hadn’t mentioned it here, this is the info:

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The Simple Mom’s Idea Book

While starting life as a new wife and then mom to three children, Deborah Taylor-Hough always wished for a personal mentor. Someone who could take her under their wing and show her the ropes of being a stay-at-home mom, live on a single income, survive in a tough economy, educate her three lively kids, and rais children who grew to be successful adults with character and integrity.

Well, that mentor she’d hoped and prayed for never appeared.

Not to be deterred, Debi kept plugging away. She also kept notes as she went about her day-to-day life, convinced that someday she may have opportunity to be that mentor she’d always longed for in her own life; a friendly guiding hand for someone else just starting out a similar life path. Following her husband’s diagnosis with a rare degenerative brain disorder, she also learned firsthand about the special challenges of single parenting.

Now that two of her children are grown and a third is starting high school, Debi’s beginning to see the fruit of her labors over the years; a loving family with kids who truly have grown into wonderful young adults. And she even learned a thing or two about cooking and cleaning along the way.

The Simple Mom’s Idea Book contains tips and suggestions for everything from cooking, saving money, celebrating the holidays, and just generally raising a family.

So if you’ve been looking for some simple ideas for life and homemaking … from someone who’s been around the block more than once or twice … look no further.

Have no fear, the Simple Mom is here!

 

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Table of Contents

 
Section One – Homemaking Ideas

• Simplifying Phone Calls
• Saving on Home Heating Costs
• Keeping Your Summer Organized
• Simplifying Party Planning

Section Two – Seasonal Ideas

• Valentine’s Day on a Shoestring
• Frugal Easter Basket Ideas
• Teacher Appreciation Ideas
• Make Ahead Apple Pie Filling
• Successful New Year’s Resolutions

Section Three – Family Ideas

• Friendship Bags
• Cheap Thrills! – Family Entertainment on a Budget
• Frugal Family Field Trip Ideas
• 200+ Summertime Fun Ideas for Kids

Section Four – Kitchen & Cooking Ideas

• Emergency Cooking Substitutions
• Vegetable “Hide-and-Sneak”
• Building a Better Burger
• Healthy and Inexpensive Meat Substitute
• Beating the Breakfast Rush Hour
• What a Crock! The Joys of Crockery Cooking

Section Five – Healthy Ideas

• Setting Simple Exercise Goals
• Avoiding Mosquito Bites
• “Shoo Fly! Don’t Bother Me!”
• Striving for Balance … One Habit at a Time

Section Six – Grocery Savings Ideas

• Using Up Leftovers
• Crisis Meal Planning
• Low-Budget Meal Planning
• Winning the Grocery Game
• Simple Ways to Save on Groceries
• Super Simple, Super Cheap Recipes

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 This book is currently only available on the publisher’s website and not through regular retail channels (yet!). To order your copy of The Simple Mom’s Idea Book, simply click here.

My weekend …

I came down with a doozy of a cold over the weekend.  So even though I had two days off, I don’t feel any more rested than before the weekend started.  I basically just sat on the couch coughing, sneezing, and shivering for two days.  Did lots of reading, watching movies, and playing Farmville.  lol

On Saturday, I read the book Fish! A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results by Stephen C. Lundin.  Great book!

We’d watched the video “Fish!” as part of our training the first day at work, and I enjoyed it so much, I decided to read the book.  Yes, it’s an employee training resource … but I found the whole concept as it was presented to be fresh and encouraging.  Honestly, I think it was worth getting this job just to be introduced to this whole ‘Fish!’ concept. 

I hope ’Fish!’ becomes the management style of the future.  I’ve seen some sad excuses for management in my time … now I wish several former bosses of mine would’ve read this book!  If they’d read it when I worked for them, maybe they wouldn’t be former bosses now.  lol 

PS:  If you were previously approved for a password for this blog, the current protected post has the same password as before.  Email me if you need more info:  dsimple@aol.com

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Wow … what a pleasant surprise!

I knew it was about time to receive a royalty check, but I honestly wasn’t holding my breath expecting much at all.  My new publisher had been withholding 90%(!) of my royalties each pay period as a guarantee against “returns.”

“Returns” in the publishing biz are when retail stores order more books than they can sell, so they return the ones they don’t want cluttering up their back rooms — royalties aren’t paid on “returns” so the publisher needs to have enough in reserve to cover any returns.  And yes, before anyone asks, I’d called the publisher numerous times over the years and talked this whole thing over ad nauseum with them and with IP (Intellectual Property) experts and attorneys.  It’s all legal and meets with the vague stipulations about reserves/returns in my contract.

It was more than  a little frustrating whenever I’d read my royalty statements, because it would say that my books had zero(!) returns.  So they were holding out 90% of my royalties for reserves against returns, but then getting zero returns.  More than a little bit aggravating. 

Anyway, so much for your lesson in Publishing 101. 

So, to keep a long story a little shorter, I opened my royalty statement expecting the usual tiny check … but instead of being puny, it was ten(10!) times bigger than what I’d expected!  Turns out the publisher has finally started releasing reserves against returns from previous pay times.

I honestly was starting to think I’d never see those withheld reserves — but I guess the reserves from the past are going to start coming in now.  Very, very exciting!  And it couldn’t have come at a better time (although I wish I’d been getting the full payments all along … it would’ve made a huge difference the past two years).

So, today’s big “Thankful” thing is getting a decent royalty check and seeing some of those reserves being released. 

November thankfulness

I decided to participate in a November challenge to post at least one thing you’re thankful for on each remaining day in November until Thanksgiving.  Rather than posting here on my blog, I’m going to be posting most of my “thankful” notes and updates on Twitter because they’ll probably be short.

http://www.twitter.com/dsimple

I’m probably most thankful this week for my new job.  My first day of training was yesterday, and although I feel like I was hit with information overload, I think it’s going to be a great seasonal job through the holidays. 

Popular Blog Posts

I was looking at my various blog statistics this morning and found that the following posts/articles consistently get visitors from all over the web every day.  Not really sure why these particular posts are so popular, but here you have it … my list of frequently visited blog posts (in order of popularity):

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1) Low-Budget Meal Planning

http://thesimplemom.wordpress.com/2007/05/28/low-budget-meal-planning/

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2) A Secret to a Relaxed Holiday Dinner

http://frozenassets.wordpress.com/2008/11/20/a-secret-to-a-relaxed-holiday-dinner/

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3) Freezer Meal Containers

http://frozenassets.wordpress.com/freezer-meal-containers/

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4) You Know You’re From Western Washington

http://dsimple.wordpress.com/2009/03/17/you-know-youre-from-western-washington-if/

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5) Twaddle-Free Children’s Literature by Grade Level

http://brightkids.wordpress.com/2007/10/10/childrens-literature-by-grade-level/

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6) Advent Guide – Inductive Bible Study

http://dsimple.wordpress.com/2007/11/20/advent-guide-2007-inductive-bible-study/

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7) Learning Impulse Control

http://brightkids.wordpress.com/2007/08/01/learning-impulse-control/

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8.) Happiness vs. Joy

http://dsimple.wordpress.com/2006/11/29/happiness-vs-joy/

A very nice surprise … :-)

Earlier this week, I went to my mailbox that I rent just for receiving snail mail from online sources.  Well, a regular reader of this blog and her husband sent me a generous ($500!) check to see us through the next couple of weeks while I’m waiting for the pay from my new job to kick in.  It’s such a blessing!

I was starting to feel a bit concerned about how we were going to survive until my first payday (which is at least a couple of weeks from today).  Now I can breathe so much easier!  It blessed me so  much that they realized I was still going to be in a tight spot for a few weeks even though I’ve found a job.

Thanks so much, Kay!  (Thank your hubby for me, too!)